Note: In the Alternate Timeline, Raptors are known as Talons while the Vipers are Cobras. I hope things don't get too confusing, but that's the order of things.
CHAPTER 13: Equilibrium
Delphi, Homeworld Two
Tom Zarek stepped off the maglev, returning the salutes of the Colonial military officers greeting him. The chartered helicopter that would take him to the Residence was waiting on the tarmac outside the station, as Zarek sought his chief of staff Tory Foster.
"What have you heard about the Cylon fleet?" asked Zarek, trying to make sure the jacket he'd draped over one arm didn't blow away in the wind.
"There hasn't been any activity from the Cylon ships except some transmissions."
"Have we intercepted these?"
"Yes, sir." said Foster, holding on to her hat as she boarded the helicopter. "The Terrans have initiated meetings with the Cylons. Perhaps it's a peace conference, maybe an ultimatum."
Zarek threw his jacket and suitcase into the overhead compartment over his seat. "Did the Terran president have any say in the matter?"
"He arranged the meeting."
"What!?" Zarek exclaimed. "What the hell sense does that make? Why wasn't I consulted?"
"I'm not sure." said Foster, checking her notes again. "I've drawn up a message for President Nariyan condemning his actions, and asking for a seat at the negotiating table."
"Good work, Tory." Zarek said. He was still a little shocked. The Terrans had gone, in less than a week, from brothers to overseers. What kind of power did the colonies have anymore?
Battlestar Galactica (mirror), Alternate Timeline
Commander William Adama climbed down the gangway in the Port Hangar bay, stepping around the Mk.VII Cobras to stand in front of the Talon that had flown in from the other Galactica. Adama refused to believe what the ship was, and was taking no chances. No less than fifteen marines were armed and ready for an incursion. Adama half expected Admiral Cain to step out from the Talon.
The biege hatch hissed open, and Adama's jaw dropped. Flanked by two Marines dressed in what looked like authentic Caprican combat uniforms was a mirror image of himself. But not quite. The scar on the side of Adama's face was not present on this man. The uniform colour was all off, being blue instead of the battleship gray of Adama's. The uniform patch, the rank insignia, all matched his own.
The other Adama seemed as surprised as he was to see himself. He unconciously raised his hand to the side of his face, then dropped it again.
Adama walked up to his mysterious counterpart. "My name is Commander William Adama of the Caprican Battlestar Galactica."
"So am I." said the other Adama. "Only my ship belongs to Canada." The voice was a perfect match of his own.
"Canada?" asked Adama.
"The country I belong to," said another man, also in a blue uniform but of a different design. "Admiral Avery Torias of the starship Laurier. Commander, we need your help."
"You'll get nothing until I find out who you," he looked sharply at the Canadian Adama, "Are. You're almost exactly like me. Are you a clone, or a Gemenese trap?"
"Gemenese?" asked the other Adama. "What about them?"
"We've been at war with the Gemenese since their surpruse attack on Caprica and her allies three years ago. We've battled to a stalemate, except for one person who manages to make us look like fools every time we stick our noses the wrong way."
"Who?" asked Torias.
"This way." said Adama, motioning the Marines to stand down. As briefed, two of them stayed with the other Adama. "Admiral Helena Cain of the Gemenese battlestar Pegasus. She has found ways to infiltrate and destroy even our most secure locations. My job is to hunt her down."
"We're searching for one of our own battlestars that was lost in this sector," said Torias.
"Group 41 intercepted a new advanced Gemenese battlestar, but Cain showed up with her own forces. So either you're Gemenese, or your ship has alied with them. The Shenandoah, if I recall correctly."
"Believe me, Commander," said the other Adama, "The last thing we want is to get involved in a war. We just want our ship, and we want to leave."
"I'll find your ship." said Adama, "If you help me find and kill Admiral Cain."
Troy, Homeworld Two
"Thanks for taking me," said Roslin, adjusting the seat in the car.
"No problem," said Zhan, as the automatic transmission shifted to a higher gear. "Cathy, which route was it to Delphi again?"
"Route 47," said Catherine.
Zhan thought for a second. "I was sure it was 46."
"No, two rights later we should hit route 47, and that should take us to,"
"Cathy, we don't want 47, that will take us to Anestaz. We want 46,"
Roslin peered back at the map. "I think we should take 47, that's what the map says."
"Fine!" said Zhan, exasperated. "Two rights?"
"No, we've already passed a right turnoff. Next right will be 47." said Catherine, folding the map. "Ms. Roslin, could you put it in the glove compartment?"
"Okay, we'll reach Delphi in two hours." said Zhan. "By the way, Ms. Roslin, why are you going to Delphi? I mean, it's the President's home, you can't just go up and ring the bell."
"They'll know me. I used to be the President."
"Voted out of office, eh? Happens to the best of us."
"But why do you need to go if you're not in the government?" asked Catherine from the back seat. "Do they not know what you know? Trust me, they know. The President knows everything that goes on."
"They don't know this," said Roslin.
"So you'll educate them, eh?" said Catherine.
Zhan honked the horn. "Look at these people! Maniac drivers, they don't look, they just go,"
"Go? Mom, they're going faster than we are, look at this we're in the fast lane!" said Catherine, pointing at the sign.
"I can't go faster they're cutting me-"
"No one's cutting you off!" insisted Catherine. Roslin just sat quietly in the passenger seat while the family argued. She remembered a time when she argued with her mother.
"What's the rush?" asked Zhan. "You think if we're not fast enough Delphi won't be there?
"That's what I'm worried about, yes." said Roslin.
"Well," said Zhan. "How about stopping for some dinner?"
Roslin looked at her, then sighed. "All right. Do you like Italian? I've sort of aquired a taste for it."
"Yeah, that'd be fine." said Zhan.
"No," said Catherine.
"But-"
"No." said Catherine again, in a monotone.
"We love Italian, and so do you," said Zhan, taking her eyes off the road to look at Catherine.
"Yes," said Catherine. Roslin winked at her.
Battlestar Galactica (mirror), Alternate Timeline
"Let me get this straight," said Adama. "You come from another reality, different from this one, where everyone is the same but different. Am I right so far?"
"Yup," said Torias. "Believe it or don't, how do you explain us?"
"I could put you out and airlock, and not have to explain anything," said Adama. "Your description of your ship worries me enough to prevent that. I want that ship to help us find Cain."
"We want our ship. Once we have it, we're leaving." said the alternate Adama. "As I said before, we have no desire to get caught up in your private little war. But we will intervene if we must."
"Fine. You can go back to your ship. But I'll have my eye on you." Adama stood up. "Let's go."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"He really is... just like me, isn't he" said Adama, as they left the alternate Adama's quarters.
"It's going to be tricky telling you apart, I can tell you that. Perhaps it would be easier if I did all the talking from now on." said Torias.
They had arrived in the port hangar bay, where their Raptor was still sitting. "The way those Marines keep following me, I think you're right." siad Adama, who had to duck behind a Viper to prevent being hit by a deckhand running at full speed. Then he looked at the Viper, seeing the pilot's name stencilled on the side.
"Well, we know they've got a Kara Thrace here too." he said, pointing at the cockpit.
"That's good to know. Now, we have have a ship to find."
"Now hear this, now hear this, jump will occur in ten minutes, begin jump preperation, all flight ops must be completed in five. That is all."
"We got five minutes to leave, capisce?" said Torias. "Now let's go."
Battlestar Galactica (mirror), CIC
Adama walked along the corridor, approaching CIC. Around him crewmen ran, complete inspections for the jump preperation. Opening the hatch to CIC, he descended the stairs to the main level. Looking up from the paperwork he was going over, he was surprised to see Captain Sharon Valeri, the leader of the Talon squadron aboard his ship.
"Captain Valeri, what do you want?" asked Adama. "Aren't you supposed to be in the hangar bay preparing for the jump?"
"Commander, it is my opinion that you're incapable of handling this mission. You've grown too soft over the years."
"So what do you intend to do about it?" asked Adama. He was caught in a bad position. He'd avoided many assasination attempts in the past, but that was from constant vigilance. And here he was with one of his most trusted Talon pilots, in a life-or-death situation.
Sharon's answer was quick. Two shots to the chest and Adama was thrown back on the plot table. Nobody was lifting a finger to save him, either, lest they be shot too.
Sharon holstered her weapon and removed Adama's rank insignia. "Get that out of here," she barked. "Computer, please note that as of this moment, Commander Sharon Valeri has taken command of the battlestar Galatica. Please record time and date."
Battlestar Mercury, Orbit of Homeworld One, Our Timeline
"I am Commander Rachel Carey of the Canadian battlestar Mercury. Welcome aboard."
The Cylon team was made of only four models, though Rachel had been told to expect twelve, or at least seven confirmed models. The Heavy Raider sat on the elevator to the flight deck, as it didn't have the same magnetic skids as Vipers and Raptors and couldn't be moved without a hoist, which would have been a waste of time considering the party would only be here for three hours.
"If you'll come this way, the president of Polaris is waiting in the wardroom."
"You don't seem too worried to have us lurking around your ship," said one of the models, a Five.
"Trust me, if you wanted to take over this ship you would first have to acquire the console release codes, find a way to shoot all ninteen hundred people on board, and then do this without attracting the attention of both the defense net and the counter-insurgency program." Rachel explained, quite happily.
"I'm sure we'd find a way." said Five.
"Oh, come on, Doral." said another Cylon, a Cavil. "Why would we want a junky old Colonial ship anyway?"
"Because we've beefed it up with Terran technology?" suggested Rachel. "Of course, we've taken into account your fancy computer skills, so we've uploaded a program which kills all networks if it detects any hacking. We also have three seperate databanks, each updated every thirty minutes, so if one computer is compromised, we just wipe it and reload it."
Cavil raised an eyebrow. "Quite a speech, my dear. There's a space on our ship if you're interested."
"I'd have to upgrade it quite a bit..." said Rachel.
Cavil adopted a look of mock horror. "Did I hear that right? Upgrade our ship?"
"Okay, Cavil, enough." said a Sharon model.
"You might be interested to learn that two of your models are serving in our service." said Rachel. "One's in the Colonial fleet, one's in the Canadian fleet. One of your 'heroes', actually."
"Traitor," muttered Eight,
"Calm down," siad Doral, "In the interest of peace, they've taken a first step."
"We're here," said Rachel. "It's been a pleasant conversation,"
"Change from the other encounters we've had," muttered Cavil.
"But here's the President."
"Only one?" asked the Simon model, who had been silent up to this point.
"The president of the Colonies couldn't attend..." siad Rachel. "At least, that's what I've been told."
"Then you might need some new sources," came a booming voice from the back of the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am President Nariyan of the Greater Terran Alliance. Welcome to Polaris. Your entrance was a little surprising, but at least you're not shooting."
"President, we have come in search of a non-aggression pact." said Simon. "Our empire is currently embroiled in a civil war, and indirectly, you are are the cause. We need to make sure you do not become involved."
Nariyan whistled softly. "Civil war? We don't need a non-aggression pact, we just need an assurance that we'll be left out of this. We have no intention of getting involved in someone else's war without good reason. We have no interests whatsoever in your conflict. Just give me an assurance, in writing, that you will not approach this star system, and we won't go anywhere near your war."
The Cylons discussed it for a second. Judging from the speed in which they had finished it it there were no arguments. "We agree," said Cavil. "If you have a computer, we'll draw one up right away."
Rachel left the room. In less than ten minutes the Terrans had achieved what the Colonials had failed to do in three years. The Cylons had to be up to something, and even if they weren't, the Colonials were. Zarek would never support this.
Battlestar Shenandoah, Alternate Timeline
"Kobol?" asked Dualla. "Why Kobol?"
"It makes sense, doesn't it?" said Apollo. "This Kobol is the same as our Kobol, it doesn't make any difference. The computer says Baltar was looking up the Final Prophecy in the computer. Therefore he intends to go to Kobol. We just gotta stop him."
"Admiral Cain says that there's now a fleet searching for us. She doesn't know who it is though." said Dualla.
"What's up, Dee?" asked Apollo.
"Do you forgive me?" burst out Dualla. "For the codes?"
"Oh, that." Apollo, scratched his head. "I changed them, so no harm done. I know why you-"
"Just tell me: do you forgive me?"
Apollo embraced his wife. "Of course I do. I didn't mean what I said."
"Thank you," sniffed Dualla. "Now... Now where were we?"
"The fleet pursuing us..." said Apollo. "Hang on," he said as the comm rang. "Yeah, CO."
"This is CIC, I've got Pegasus Actual on the line."
"Put her through," said Apollo. "What is it, Admiral?"
"A Caprican battlestar group just jumped into range. I'm going to red alert, I suggest you do the same. Pegasus out."
"Holy," said Apollo. "We've gotta get to CIC now!"
Battlestar Galactica, Alternate Timeline
"The alternate Galactica is taking up position beside Pegasus. They're preparing to fire," said Tigh. "Should we power up?"
"No, Lee might be on that ship." said Adama. "Can you get Commander Adama on the line?"
"No, sir, Galactica has gone silent. Coded transmissions only, and they're different from ours."
"Signal Torias to position himself between Shenandoah and the fleet. Tell Shenandoah to do the same. Then prepare to launch Vipers."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Tigh.
"No. But we'll need both sides to..."
"Galactica is hailing us. Commander Valeri informs that Adama has been removed from command, that the fleet is under her command, and that we are clear to begin attacking both ships."
"It's the class... They must think it's a Gemenese ship!" exclaimed Adama.
"They're right!" replied Tigh. "And they've probably got orders to fire on us!"
"Signal them to take up position between the Capricans and the Gemenese." said Adama. "And tell the combatants to stand down or we'll all fire."
Battlestar Valkyrie (mirror), Alternate Timeline
"Hell of a time for a transfer," said Kara Thrace as she got into her Cobra. She was personally waiting to see what kind of weaponary the ships from beyond the universe had.
The Valkyrie was about three quarters the size of Galactica, and had about the same ratio of Cobras. The design was much more compact and advanced, as it had been designed to combat the new Mercury-class battlestars the Gemenese now fielded.
Thrace snapped on her helmet and adjusted the air intake. The shard tang of pure oxygen filled the confined space. She now had been rolled into the launch tube, and the LSO was waiting for her signal. Running through the checklist, she activated her wireless.
And all hell broke loose.
She could hear the commander of Galactica shouting at the commander of the alternate Galactica, threatening to attack if he did not stand down. She heard the alternate Adama (now the only Adama, actually) saying that Admiral Cain was stepping down on condition that they did not start shooting. Then the order came through for all attack squadrons to launch against the alternate starship and both battlestars. Cain seemed to have been forgotten.
"Valkyrie attack squadron away," Thrace reported. She raised the heads-up display and selected missiles. "AMRAAM missiles locked on target." she reported, as the computer targeted the Terran starship.
"Roger, tack squadron, clear to fire."
"All Cobras, we're red and free." she reported. "Blue one, away!"
"Blue two, firing,"
Blue four, away,"
Twenty missiles shot away from the starfighters towards the Terran starship, targeting the engines. They all exploded five seconds before estimated impact time.
"Control, that is an NI, negative impact, repeat, NI, negative impact." said Thrace, rolling in towards the front of the ship. "Not one got through. Either they've got frakking great anti-missile systems or the engines thore them to pieces. Rolling in, switching to general target mode. Blue one, firing!"
Instead of twenty this time no less than fifty missiles streaked towards the Laurier, with no particular spot in mind. But yet again, all the missiles exploded harmlessly before hitting the hull. Thrace made out small energy surges rippling over the metal.
"All fighters, pull up, pull up, they've got some kind of shield over the hull, pull up!"
The attack fighters flipped end over end and boosted the other way as Valkyrie opened up. The shield was still intact.
The DRADIS on Thrace's heads-up display beeped madly. "All fighters, bogeys launched, repeat bogeys launched, blow through, blow through!"
Two converging streams of indentical aircraft, one from Valkyrie and one from Shenandoah passed through each other, while the two Galacticas circled each other, blasting away. Pegasus had retreated out of the battle zone.
